Dentsu London Office International

Description from Essentia Designs:

The Brief

We were approached through project managers Interactive Space to work on the offices for Dentsu London, one of the most exciting creative agencies in the UK. The building is an award winning development by Amanda Levete which the Dentsu team have already christened the “spaceship” (Tokyo HQ is the mothership!).

Our brief was to create an interior which was sympathetic to the curvaceous exterior of the building and provided a high-tech Japanese minimalist environment within which they can create their future magic. In addition to the main agency studio spaces there was a need to incorporate space for Attik, an associated multi-award winning branding agency as well as the European head office functions.

The Solution

Dentsu London is a fast growing business akin to a start-up but with the solid foundations and backing of existing blue chip clients from around the globe. The decision to co-locate the Attik business in London (relocating from Leeds) meant the solution needed to encourage integration and cross-fertilisation between the two groups. In addition, the European HQ team were moving from separate offices in Mayfair so this would be the first opportunity for the business to function out of a single location.

From a strategic perspective, the top floor penthouse space provided an ideal main boardroom and consequentially we located the main reception area on the 5th floor to simplify the client journey and provide space for Dentsu Europe. The 4th floor was retained as the main creative studio hub, while Attik have their own space on the third floor, which includes an exhibition space and padded meeting room, along with a shared canteen and library space. The decision to locate these shared facilities adjacent to the Attik team was to encourage social engagement and speed up integration of the businesses.

We developed a scheme that took inspiration from sources as disparate as Star Trek, Spitfires, Buckminster Fuller and Eriko Horiki’s massive paper sculptures and followed a neutral pallet with mostly white and grey interspersed with the vibrant green used in the floor finishes of the building’s common parts. The existing building is very energy efficient and utilises a chilled beam AC system with integral low energy lighting, so there was a conscious decision to have everyone working in an open plan, agile way so there were no offices and only the bare minimum of closed meeting rooms. The 4th floor studio space has a fantastic energy and creative buzz with freestanding pods for collaborative brainstorming.

We wanted to retain as much of the base build elements as we could, so developed the concept of a curved tensile fabric screen to separate the client reception area from the Dentsu Europe team. You enter the reception through a fabric tunnel which peels back to reveal the thermo-formed corian reception desk and client waiting area, a fitting introduction to this amazing agency.